Transplant

The problem is not any one party or group. The problem is well spread between the White House and Capital Hill ... regardless of what party is the majority in either building. Professional politicians are ruining our economy and nation with their special interests and disassociation from the PEOPLE who elect them. The use of media to sway the ignorant (not stupid) American's opinion during voting seasons is shameful, almost as shameful as those of us who vote without researching the candidates and what they actually stand for, not what they say they stand for during elections.

Transplant

If any of you think that balancing the Federal Budget is simple or there is a panacea, you need to get a better psychotropic medication. Our Federal government is an abusive, overbearing beaurocracy that bears considerable overhaul from the top down. When a single-term Congressman is accorded a pay raise by not voting against it, when he also gets a lifetime retirement at our tax dollars and a 7-figure annual budget to operate his office, we have PROBLEMS. When our military is forced to "Spend this quarter's budget or we lose it next quarter" and millions are spent every month on cleaning and "spruicing up" for Congressional and upper-echelon visits when they could be spending money on training time and ammunition. When Social Security, money WE put into a fund for OUR future, is dipped into by Congress like they own it so they can offset the pork-barrel, special interest spending they add onto bills .. and we think it's OK???? Come on people, the problem is n

Premier

Fredzz

Premier "" The answer to this problem is a balanced budget admendment with a National sales tax of .5% ""

It could be a Good Start..... But...

Giving the Federal Gov. more money, telling them not to waste it. Is like giving a group of Hard Core Alcoholics a Keg of Beer and a couple open bottles of whiskey with the instruction " do not Drink any of the Alcohol until the party starts in about 10 hours....!

Not going happen.

Maybe if there was a required [no exceptions] Financial Rehab program linked to a Financial AA type program as an condition of being in any Upper level Gov. position....???

USABorn

"The answer to this problem is a balanced budget admendment with a National sales tax of .5% that goes directly to pay off the debt."

I agree with the idea of a natn'l sales tax, but .5% is 5 cents on the dollar. There are states, such as TN, that have a 10% sales tax and there is no exception for meds or clothing. They would pay a total l5% tax. And you know who would be hurt by that?

In PA we don't pay sales tax on food or clothing. Would that be true of a national sales tax? I lived in NC in 01-02....actually right on the NC/TN line. Did my shopping in Jonson City, TN.

With the increase in the price of groceries over the last couple of years, and with the 10% sales tax which includes food and clothing, there is tens of thousands who are hurting worse today then when I lived there.....and with 15% on groceries and clothing?

CarlHiller

While there are many issues with government taxation and spending, you will never get enough to feed the beast with any tax scheme, until you start to see an increase in not only employment, but also in wages. Then and only then will it be possible to control the spiraling out of control government spending. A multi-trillion government beast cannot be supported with a nations workers who have declining wages. You can never get taxes or debt under control till all sectors, not just the wealthiest, see an increase in employment and wages. The only way to do that is to become a producing society once again instead of a service society and to stop importing workers from other nations at lower wages. And for you free-market, capitalist thinkers out there - we do not have a free-market or a capitalist society today - we have what could be termed a corrupted mercantilist system that gives the corporate and the cronies in government the wealth without a corresponding increase for labor.

sgk2211

There wasn't anything else that could be done. Spending is out of control and so it the government. I agree with JRE6388. The news tells us how badly this is going to affect us, the people, but you never heard them say how badly, and for how many generations, this out of control spending would affect us and this wonderful FREE country. We need to clean house first and get rid of all the dead weight in government, put limits on the give away programs, have a better system to catch all the fraud in welfare and government. But we should not be cutting our military nor social security. You can't spend more than you bring in and expect to get out of debt.